Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The End of Zelda

According to the developer roundtable Miyamoto threatened Aonuma that if Skyward Sword won't be the best Zelda game yet, there will be no more Zelda games. Of course he probably wasn't serious and this was more a motivational tool, but let's take his word for it. If he really meant it, then that's it for the Zelda franchise. Bye, bye, Zelda games. There is no way, that a game, where stuff like flying on weird birds through a sky ocean or running from invincible enemies gets thrown in, will surpass master pieces like A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening or Ocarina of Time. No matter how good Skyward Sword will be, this train has already left the station. This train is already on the Spirit Tracks... Of course this is just a matter of opinion, but if they would use sales as a measurement, the result would be similar. Twilight Princess sold so well, because it was a Wii launch title and everyone thought they would get awesome sword combat with it. This was a great position. And still it didn't surpass Ocarina of Time in sales. But Skyward Sword took way too long and will be one of the Wii's last games. The interest in this game shrank with every month they were delaying it in the last couple of years. There couldn't be any worse position for a Zelda game to be released.

And I personally think it would be a good idea to pause the Zelda franchise and/or give it to someone else. Aonuma's Zelda team completely lost their touch. They constantly talk about the essence of Zelda and on the same time they make games, where the overworld gets replaced by an ocean made of water, railways or clouds with tiny islands on it. They make games, where they take away your sword or render it useless, so you have to run from your enemies instead of being badass. They make games, where they set focus on a bad story instead on exploration. They take away the interesting choices and guide you on a boring, linear path. NONE of this has anything to do with what made the early Zelda games great. None of this. But still they reuse these concepts as if its a staple for the series. Zelda is on a downhill path ever since The Wind Waker. And it doesn't seem to get much better with Skyward Sword. Originally Aonuma didn't even want to use MotionPlus in this game, while the sword combat is clearly the best and most exciting feature...

So, I think it's time for some fresh air. Let Skyward Sword be the last Aonuma Zelda. I guess no one would like the Zelda franchise to pause, the WiiU is suffering a lot already (Nintendo stocks are dropping), to be the first Nintendo home console without a new Zelda game would be even worse. But giving the Zelda franchise to another team is always an option. Retro would be an awesome choice as the new Zelda team. They already have proven, that they know how to revive franchises, Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country Returns were awesome. And let Grezzo continue working on Zelda stuff, Majora's Mask 3D would be the logical next step and maybe a third and new Zelda game for the 3DS, which is made in the N64 remake style. I also wouldn't wonder, if those guys are behind the Four Swords re-release. Of course this doesn't really qualify them to make a new Zelda game, but working on the best Zelda game so far should give them other perspectives. They may know how a good Zelda game works by now.

A new team to develop Zelda could deliver the fresh air, which the franchise needs. Aonuma's team got stuck in their image, of how a modern Zelda has to look like, and it's time for a change.

@Anonymous poster:I'm judging what the videos show me about the game. Because that's all I have right now. I will definitely get the game and review it here in its full glory. And hopefully it will change my attitude then.

And most of this article doesn't come from Skyward Sword anyway... the Zelda series had lot of issues lately. It's not like Aonuma's team made five flawless Zelda games and now I want to doom them for a bad trailer.